


Sharing

by quiet__tiger



Category: Batman (Comics), Outsiders (Comics)
Genre: Babysitting, Drama, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-23
Updated: 2017-04-23
Packaged: 2018-10-23 05:52:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,062
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10713522
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quiet__tiger/pseuds/quiet__tiger
Summary: Dick babysits Lian, which may be even more fun for him than it is for her.





	Sharing

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: "Son or Daughter."
> 
> Originally posted to Livejournal 16th-Apr-2009.

Dick peeled the paper away from the red crayon, giving himself more of the crayon to work with, but opening himself up to red smudges on his fingers. He lightly colored in the robin’s chest, neatly keeping within the lines. Glancing across the kitchen table at Lian, he smiled, and she looked up at him and grinned that cute little kid smile.

With Roy on a mission with the Justice League, and everyone in the Arrow clan busy, Dick was charged with staying with Lian for the weekend. Part of the entertainment Roy had bought in advance was a coloring book of birds, which is how Lian had wanted to spend Sunday morning.

She was busy coloring her sparrow green, because it reminded her of her Uncle Gar. Dick had thought about coloring his robin in the hues of his old costume, but that was more something Roy would do. Either way, it was a relaxing pastime.

Babysitting Lian was always a learning experience for Dick. Her smile served to remind him that there was more to life than fighting crime, more out there than the darkness. She’d been through some hell in her short life, but there was still brightness in her.

“Uncle Dick.”

“Huh?”

“You’re staring.”

“You’re right.”

She giggled. “Daddy says it’s rude to stare.”

“It is. But sometimes I forget that.” He could picture Alfred shooting him one of those chastising looks, like when he tried to sneak an extra snack. Alfred often gave him extra snacks later, which made him smile.

He stood and stretched his back, and watched as Lian’s face lit up even more. “We gonna do flips now?”

“If you want to.”

“Yeah! Let me get into my outfit.” She raced to her room, and Dick took the time to push the living room furniture out of the way and roll out a couple of exercise mats. Roy really needed a bigger apartment, or a full training room, but for now Dick had to make space where he could.

Not that Roy totally approved of Dick’s gymnastics lessons for Lian, but Roy wasn’t here, and Lian loved learning. What Roy didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him.

Lian ran back into the living room dressed in the shorts and t-shirt that matched his set, red shorts with white stripes and a gray t-shirt that said “Property of Gotham City” across the front. Her shirt was too big, but she didn’t care, and they just carefully tucked it into the shorts so she could flip.

Dick had taught somersaults and flipping and hand stands and such to other people, such as Jason and Tim, but with Lian it was different. Here the moves didn’t mean life and death, they weren’t for strict use, and it wasn’t such a big deal if she took a long time to master anything. Everything was fun for her still, and she wasn’t yet a neurotic perfectionist. He loved getting to share what he could do with someone who enjoyed it for itself.

Dick tied her long, dark hair back with a rubber band, then they warmed up with some somersaults and handstands. Dick idly wondered if Roy would let him take Lian somewhere with a balance beam or a trapeze, then broke into laughter as he pictured Roy’s horrified face if he asked if he could take Lian to the Batcave with him. 

His pupil pouted up at him, the expression far too comical for her to be truly serious. “What’s so funny?”

Lips twitching, Dick answered, “Just thinking about something. About your dad.”

“Something that would make him mad?”

He lost the fight to restrain his grin; Lian was really perceptive. “Yep.”

“He gets mad at you a lot.”

“Well, I push him towards it.” They pushed each other, constantly. It only made them stronger somehow.

“He says you’re good at that.”

“Oh yeah? What else does he say?” Sensing a break in the training, he went to the kitchen to get them both some water. He’d make sure Lian drank enough during their work out. The last thing he needed was her getting dehydrated and sick on his watch. Roy would never forgive him. Or he would, but never let him forget it.

“I don’t know.”

“Aww, come on. I bet he says a lot of things.” He was a horrible person, trying to get gossip out of a six year old.

Maybe, but he hadn’t prepared himself for Lian to say, “Sometimes he says you don’t know your ass from a hole in the ground, but I don’t know what that means.”

Dick choked on his water, coughing as it went down the wrong pipe and spilled all over his shirt. Catching his breath, he finally said, “Ask your dad what it means when he gets home.” Either Roy talked trash or Lian eavesdropped, and either way it was a conversation Roy probably needed to have with his little girl. Unless he wanted Lian using such expressions at school, which probably wouldn’t end well.

Lian nodded seriously, and Dick smiled. How could Roy go out and fight bad guys every day when he had such a wonderful thing at home as a daughter? A beautiful little girl who obviously looked up to him, who needed him? The mission was important, and like so many of the League members and everyone else it was Roy’s life’s work, but _still_. Dick didn’t think he could leave her, if Lian were his, if any kid were his.

“So, more front flips, or do you want to learn back flips?”

Her eyes went wide. “Back flips!” She hopped back to the center of the mats and waited for him to come over and teach her.

“Okay.” He rolled his shoulders again, wanting to stay loose so he didn’t hurt himself or Lian. Next time he’d try to remember to stretch better first. He wasn’t working hard, but handling Lian and making sure she didn’t crash into something or fall was hard enough.

Provided there was a next time, and he hoped there would be. He couldn’t imagine having his own kid, certainly not any time soon if at all, but hanging out with Lian, teaching her, being there for her, made him think about it sometimes. Briefly. For now he happily settled for living vicariously through his best friend and his daughter.


End file.
